The Arizona Legislature has passed a new piece of legislation that would allow business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gay people, The Associated Press reported.

The "religious freedom" bill (SB1062) would give any business, church or person a defense against action brought by the government or an individual claiming discrimination. It also lets the refusing business or person seek an injunction if they can show that their actions are based on religious beliefs and that the claim against them would place a burden on their ability to exercise their religion.

Republican Governor Jan Brewer is expected to make a decision about the bill in the next week. Brewer is deeply religious, but also pro-business, and has not taken a public position on the bill.

"I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don't work with," Brewer told CNN in Washington on Friday. "But I don't know that it needs to be statutory. In my life and in my businesses, if I don't want to do business or if I don't want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I'm not interested. That's America. That's freedom."

The bill passed the state House of Representatives 33-27 vote Thursday, supported by Republicans who say it protects religious freedom.

"The world's on its ear," said Rep. John Allen, R-Scottsdale, who supported the bill. "It's alien to me that a business owner can't reflect his faith in his business."

"In America, people should be free to live and work according to their faith, and the government shouldn't be able to tell us we can't do that," Joseph E. La Rue told The New York Times. La Rue is the legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that advocates religious liberty and supports the measure passed by the State Legislature. "Faith shouldn't be something we have to leave inside our house," he added.

Opponents of the bill have a variety of concerns about the impact to the state.

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council thinks Arizona will experience backlash similar to the national response to SB1070, the state's immigration crackdown, in 2010.

"This is coming out of left field ... from a bunch of demagogues who don't care about Arizona's future," said Council President and CEO Barry Broome. "I think the political consequences are gonna be greater than people might think."

Many Arizona business owners have also expressed a concern that the law will make the state seem unwelcoming, azcentral reported.

"The state already is known as being discriminatory," said auto repair business owner Howard Fleischmann. "This would muddy the water and give Arizona a more terrible reputation."

Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona have also called the bill discriminatory.

Anna Tovar, the state senate Democratic minority leader, said in a statement:

"With the express consent of Republicans in this Legislature, many Arizonans will find themselves members of a separate and unequal class under this law because of their sexual orientation. This bill may also open the door to discriminate based on race, familial status, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability."

The ACLU called the bill "unnecessary and discriminatory."

"What today's bill does is allow private individuals and businesses to use religion to discriminate, sending a message that Arizona is intolerant and unwelcoming," the group said in a statement.

Opponents also noted that the legislation could be a distraction as Arizona gears up to host Super Bowl XLIX in 2015, according to The AP.

Arizona isn't the only state considering extending this type of exemption beyond religious organizations, notes The N.Y. Times. Tennessee is considering a controversial bill that would exempt wedding vendors. A similar bill in Kansas was recently set aside over discrimination concerns, and opponents of same-sex marriage in Oregon are looking to put an initiative on the ballot this year that would exempt businesses from participating in same-sex weddings.

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